Swansea 4 Sheffield United 0: All goes swimmingly for Swans as blunt Blades bow out

Swansea convincingly saw off 10-man Sheffield United to leapfrog
Cardiff into third place on the final day of the npower Championship
season and set up a play-off semi-final showdown with Nottingham Forest.

Swans went into the game knowing they had no chance of automatic
promotion after champions QPR received no points deduction from the
Football Association, a decision which it is understood Swans chairman
Huw Jenkins will take no further action against despite the possibility
of appeal.

What is for sure after months of uncertainty, is that City will now
head into the play-offs in confident mood after today's deserved
victory, boasting the crucial second leg at the Liberty Stadium and the
possibility of a south Wales showdown with Cardiff, who now face
Reading.

Round of applause: Swansea leap-frogged Cardiff into third on the final day

Stephen Dobbie opened the scoring on the half hour with a free-kick
whipped in at pace from an acute angle which evaded everyone.

Blades defender Shane Lowry then saw red for handling Scott
Sinclair's goalbound effort on the line, with the England Under-21
winger stepping up to score his 24th goal of the season from the spot.

Dobbie then grabbed his second of the afternoon and Leon Britton
rounded matters off late on against his former club, to leave a youthful
and relegated United second from bottom in the final standings on goal
difference.

City boss Brendan Rodgers made two changes to his XI, restoring star
names Sinclair and Fabio Borini after they were rested for last
weekend's impressive 2-0 win at Millwall.

Blades counterpart Micky Adams - who spent 13 days as Swans boss in
1997 - made three changes to his line-up, most notably handing a debut
to goalkeeper George Long.

And the 17-year-old, a star of the club's successful FA Youth Cup
side, was called upon after just 70 seconds to turn Dobbie's snap-shot
around a post.

The hosts looked most likely to break the deadlock and, at the end of
a well-worked move, Sinclair saw two shots blocked before Nathan Dyer
then fired over the crossbar.

Long again produced another great save from Dyer before Lee
Williamson, played in by Stephen Quinn, wasted a clear-cut chance to
hand United the lead, seeing his shot turned out by Dorus de Vries.

That could have changed the complexion of the clash but, instead, it
was left for Dobbie to strike first after 30 minutes with a set-piece
wide from the left.

Sinclair and Dobbie both missed chances to extend the lead before the
break, but it did not take long after the restart to do so.

Sinclair's shot was deliberately blocked by the hand of Lowry, who
saw red for his actions, and the former Chelsea winger stepped up to
stroke home the resulting penalty.

It was 3-0 on the hour as Dobbie rounded off a sweeping move which
involved Swans centre-back Ashley Williams. Williams was in the mood and
his stunning effort from distance came agonisingly close.

The final 20 minutes were played out amid an end-of-season tempo,
with United boss Adams handing valuable game time to youngsters Terry
Kennedy, Daniel Philliskirk and Matty Harriott as the club prepare for
life in League One alongside city rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

But there was still time for Britton to add a well-taken fourth in the 90th minute.